The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the Cabinet backed the occupation attempt.

The military leadership has said it preferred a new cease-fire, and the military’s chief of staff previously raised concerns about troop exhaustion.

Israel already controls and has largely destroyed around 75% of Gaza, with most of the population of some 2 million Palestinians now sheltering in Gaza City, the central city of Deir al-Balah and the sprawling displacement camps in the Muwasi area along the coast.